The Tumut High School Burrabinya students attended the Brungle Yarning Space, which is located behind the Brungle Health Centre in Adams St, Brungle. Burrabinya – Leap to your future program takes its name from the meaning to ‘Leap or Jump’ as defined in the Wiradjuri Dictionary written by Stan Grant Snr. The purpose of the excursion was to provide students with a practical cultural experience, through the creation of a Youth focused shelter within the Yarning Space site. Students were clearing the site of debris when Alyssa discovered a tiny frog at the bottom of a freshly dug fire pit. The frog was a very pale grey and pink in colour and was not moving very well. Alyssa had put the frog into a clear plastic cup, with some grass and water to keep it moist and placed it under a tree whilst she continued work. At lunchtime, all the participants gathered at the Health Centre, where the frog was brought out for all to look at and possibly identify and we noticed the frog had changed colour to yellow and black.

Luke Penrith, Yarning Space Project Manager, took some photos and sent them to Shane Herrington, a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Ranger for the local area and Brungle local himself to be identified. Shane was able to identify the frog as being a Southern Corroboree Frog, a near extinct species in the wild, with only isolated specimens having been identified in the local area.

It is known that this particular species of frog cannot jump very high, and if Alyssa had not spotted it whilst taking photographs for the project, the frog may have perished. Shane advised to release the frog into a local creek nearby, which was done at the end of the day, when rain ceased construction.

The little guy stole our show and our hearts this week. The general comments from Aunty Sophie, Luke and Michael Lucas, Cooee Cottage was that it was a serendipitous moment when the students found a Corroboree frog on a sacred Aboriginal site (Brungle) while participating in Burrabinya (meaning to leap or jump).

The Burrabinya program, delivered by COMPACT Inc. is funded through the Dept Prime Minister and Cabinet – Indigenous Advancement Strategy – Children and Schooling Program and will continue in 2018.

Key objectives of Burrabinya is Building the capacity of Aboriginal students through connection with cultural identity and community to develop the confidence, skills, knowledge and understanding required to reach their full potential in employment and education.